“It has the snap, go, fling of...

“It has the snap, go, fling of the American atmosphere; it belongs as much to our institutions, fits into them as significantly as our Constitution’s laws; it is just as important in the sum total of our historic life.”

--Walt Whitman (1819-1892), speaking of baseball

No other sport gets Americans waxing poetic as quickly as baseball in April. The new baseball season at Dodger Stadium starts today when the Cincinnati Reds come to face Orel Hershiser at 1:10 p.m. The game will be televised on KTTV-TV.

* Trying to improve on last year’s dismal 77-85 record, the Dodgers have a new boss in Bob Daly, a new right fielder in Shawn Green, a “new” starting pitcher in Hershiser and a revamped bullpen. And as in April every year, hopes are high.

* It’s a new year and a new Dodger Stadium. The 38-year-old ballpark has undergone a $50-million face lift during the off-season. The most notable changes will be new luxury suites and a new seating area directly behind home plate. The 33 luxury boxes on the club level range in price from $150,000 to $300,000, depending on size and location.

From the front row in the new Dugout Club area, you will be only about 58 feet behind home plate, about 25 feet closer than last season. The 565 Dugout Club seats sell for between $195 and $295 per game. For the rest of us, the cost of seats in the outfield pavilions and upper deck remain at $6, and regular field box seats top off at $40.

* The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council estimates that Americans will consume 26.5 million hot dogs at major league baseball games this coming season, up from 26 million last year. Laid end-to-end, those 26.5 million would stretch from Dodger Stadium to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N. Y.

More tube steaks are sold at Dodger Stadium than at any other major league park--about 1.3 million Dodger Dogs. Also new this year for those with more rarefied palates: Offerings from Wolfgang Puck’s Spago and Chinois menus will be available to patrons in the luxury suites and Dugout Club seats.